With the Heart of Nembutsu

A person with the heart of the Nembutsu is like one whose body is possessed of its fragrance; the heart of Mahasthamaprapta is thus likened to a person possessing fragrance. Hence it is stated, he is called "one adorned with the fragrance of light." Bodhisattva Mahasthamaprapta, possessing the heart of the nembutsu within his heart, is likened to a person imbued with incense. He therefore states, When at first I was in the bodhisattva stage I attained insight into the nonorigination of all existence with the heart of the nembutsu. Now in this world: now in this Saha world. I embrace persons of the nembutsu and bring them into the Pure Land: "Taking in persons of the nembutsu, I bring them into the Pure Land." - Shinran Shonin, Notes on the Inscriptions on Sacred Scrolls: The inscription in praise of Bodhisattva Mahasthamaprapta

"In the Surangama Sutra, Mahasthamaprapta Bodhisattva tells of how he gained enlightenment through Buddha recitation, or continuous pure mindfulness of the Buddha, to obtain samadhi." - Wikipedia entry on Mahasthamaprapta - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahasthamaprapta

Bodhisattva Mahasthamaprapta recited the Buddha's name and reached nembutsu-samadhi by chanring the Buddha's name. His example was realized by Shinran to be the way of sages, the difficult practice.

Since the Jodo Shinshu path is the easy practice, an ordinary Pure Land practitioner is ever mindful of Amida out of gratitude for establishing the Primal Vow.

Amida's Primal Vow is that all sentient beings who hear His call will be reborn in the Pure Land of Bliss.

When the Shin Buddhist utters the Name-that-Calls, he has heard Amida calling to him from the Pure Land.

For Amida and the Pure Land of Bliss are right here in the Shin Buddhist's heart-mind.

The heart-mind is the bodhi mind, the True Mind, the mind embraced by Amida, always graced by buddha-nature.>

What is the Name-that-Calls? It is the Nembutsu that I softly change to keep Indra's Net bright and strong around the whole world.

What is Indra's Net but the compassion of billions of people to help sooth the suffering of billions more?

For Amida is both the Boundless Light of Wisdom shining on the Boundless Life of Compassion and the Boundless Life of Compassion enlightened by the Light of Wisdom?

Namu Amida Butsu

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Original post: February 15, 2006 11:48 PM PST

Achieving Pure Mind

Through meditation, the pure mind is achieved. Here is how it is done.

When I meditate, I don't ever try to achieve No-thought. Trying usually leads to many thoughts arising rather than none.

Besides, No-thought actually means "not holding onto a single thought." By not holding onto a single thought, I let my thoughts flow but let go of any attempt to stop them, and return to breath meditation.

Thus the samadhi of breathing leads to No-thought.

Indeed, samadhi of No-thought is a vain game of controlling thinking that is doomed to failure when trying to not think, precisely because thinking is a natural part of what the Ego does when threatened by the stillness of the calm mind.

I have yet to read of such a samadhi that focuses on not thinking. Since samadhi means "single-minded focus to the point of single-mindedness," the samadhi of No-thought requires the ability to not hold onto a single thought rather than the vain attempt to not think at all.

Therefore, the focus on letting thoughts flow is the result of the samadhi of No-thought. The thoughts flow but meditation helps me to focus on letting go of them. Having let go of them, I have achieve control of my mind. For my single-minded focus on breathing allows me to ignore the stream of thoughts.

In this way, I am not captivated by my thoughts which results in freedom from thinking. Paradoxically, with each breath I take, I am closer to No-thought.

This kind of mind control is the only true form of control. Any other kind of control may involve physical means, is thus oppressive and may be doomed to failure since its end result is egocentricity.

Once ego is conquered by meditation, the mind becomes calm like the eye of the storm. Even though thoughts may rise and fall during meditation, samadhi on breathing helps me to develop the skill of right concentration. With this skill it is possible to move onto samadhi of No-thought, and thus be unmoved by thinking.

In this way, the mind becomes purified.

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Originally published: April 24, 2013 at 12:46 AM

Pure Mind and Ten Virtues

From birth to death, a person exists. Yet throughout his life he soon falls asleep to the call of Buddha Nature.

From lifetime to lifetime, for countless millennia, this person then becomes caught in the cycle of rebirth, reborn as Hell being, hungry ghost, animal, human, demon or god.

This is the fate of the sleepers who never awaken to Buddha Nature.

However, the Buddha has shown that with diligent effort through countless lifetimes,
it is possible to let go of desire so that rebirth in the six realms of desire
becomes unnecessary.

All it takes is mindful contemplation to settle the mind and achieve the calm mind conducive to the arising of Bodhi Mind. From that point, one merely observes his mind to discover the ends to escape the cycle of rebirth.

Both contemplation and observation of the mind is known as samatha-vipasyana meditation, and is the skillful means to break that cycle.

What are those ends? Samadhi (single-minded focus) which is of the eightfold path (pure concentration) that leads to the Pure Mind.

This Pure Mind is the end result of practicing the Ten Virtues

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Ten Virtues: http://ddmba.org/pages/about-us/guiding-principles/ten-virtues.php

Samadhi is Right Concentration

One cannot merely heat up oatmeal, and then add water, expecting porridge — all one gets is an unpalatable mess.

When one mixes up water and oatmeal while heating the mixture over heat, porridge is always made.

Doing things correctly yields results.

So too is it with meditation: all the observation in the world is pointless when the mind is not calm as a troubled mind misses the fine details of what he observes.

This is why meditation begins with counting the breath. It isn't how many times you count your breath that is important: it is the single-minded focus on returning to counting the breath that calms the mind.

Once the mind is calm, that single-minded focus is honed and now allows the practitioner to closely observe how his thoughts arise, where they go when thoughts fade away, and which ones were truly important to his journey on the Middle Path.

This is the essence of the samadhi of No-thought: breath meditation becalms the mind and develops single-mindedness, which prepares the mind to observe itself carefully.

Once the practitioner learns that the ebb and flow of his thoughts are as calm as the ocean waves crashing upon the shore, he has purified the mind with samadhi.

Why is it called "samadhi of No-thought?" His right concentration allows him to not be attached to his thoughts, and to let them rise and fall like waves on a beach.

For his mind is calm as the eye of a storm of thoughts he no longer holds close.

Anxiety Relief Through Meditation

Sometimes, when sitting in my room meditating, my mind gets restless. Anxiety leads to emotions and feelings appearing to get the better of reason. It's as though I have two minds.

When of two minds, it's as though the heart battles with reason.

Once I've calmed down, I let the heart-mind exercise compassion.

How do I calm down? I start by concentrating on my breathing. Within a minute, my heart slows down. At this point in my meditation, I let my thoughts come and go without following any of them. Since the object of the meditation is to collect my thoughts, I find that letting go of them leads to a calm mind.

When one lets go of thought, thoughts are free to dissipate.

Through single-minded concentration it is possible to rein in the heart through the use of reason. This requires no effort on my part, except to breathe and to observe my mind carefully.

If anxiety starts to rise, then I return to my breathing by "thinking breathing."

After a short while the mind is calm, all anxiety forgotten. As a result, I feel positive and self-assured. When the mind is calm, and the rational mind is once again in control, the heart-mind is free to exercise compassion.

At this point in my meditation, I start to generate good thoughts to ensure the positive frame of mind in which there is no room for negativity.

Then the meditation is over and I'm ready to handle the day.

The Buddha as Love: The Bodhisattva in Action

Free of the confines of ego, the love of the Buddha is due to the working of great compassion. Transcending the dualism of being and non-being, it rises from a heart of non-discrimination. It is purposeless, effortless, and ego-less.

As long as there is but one unsaved sentient being to enjoy single-minded bliss (Samadhi) to which she is entitled by her long spiritual discipline, the Tathagata's great love of all sentient beings is unending until everyone of them is happily led to Nirvana.

Empowered by boundless love and compassion, the Tathagata regards all sentient beings as if they were his only child. Were he to enter into Nirvana, no work will be done in the world where imaginative discrimination goes on and wonderful variety prevails. Because of this, he refuses to leave this world of birth-life-death. All his thoughts are directed towards the ignorant and suffering masses of sentient beings.

For them, he is willing to sacrifice his enjoyment of absolute reality and self-absorption.

Thus the Buddha as love is embodied in the Bodhisattva, who through her actions and desires in the realm of twofold egolessness works to save all sentient beings.

How to Ensure Non-Retrogression of the Mind

A Pure Land treatise on the Buddha Recitation Samadhi has explained the "ten practices of non-seeking" to eliminate the ten major obstacles encountered by practitioners on the path to Enlightenment. These ten major obstacles encompass all obstructions and impediments. Therefore if we follow the ten non-seeking practices, all obstacles will disappear. These ten practices are:

1. We should not wish that our bodies be always free of diseases and ailments, because a disease-free body is prone to desire and lust. This leads to precept-breaking and retrogression.
   
2. We should not wish that our lives be free of all misfortune and adversity, lest we be prone to pride and arrogance. This leads us to be disdainful and overbearing towards everyone else.
   
3. We should not wish that our mind cultivation be free of all obstacles because, in such a case, our knowledge would be exceptional. This leads to the transgression of thinking that we have awakened, when in fact we have not.
   
4. We should not wish that our cultivation be free of demonic obstacles, because our vows would not then be firm and enduring. This leads to the transgression of thinking that we have attained Enlightenment, when in fact we have not.
   
5. We should not wish that our plans and activities meet with easy success, for we will then be inclined to thoughts of contempt and disrespect. This leads to the transgression of pride and conceit, thinking ourselves to be filled with virtues and talent.
   
6. We should not wish for gain in our social relations. This leads us to violate moral principles and see only the mistakes of others.
   
7. We should not wish that everyone, at all times, be on good terms and in harmony with us. This leads to pride and conceit and seeing only our own side of every issue.
   
8. We should not wish to be repaid for our good deeds, lest we develop a calculating mind. This leads to greed for fame and fortune.
   
9. We should not wish to share in opportunities for profit, lest the mind of delusion arise. This leads us to lose our good name and reputation for the sake of unwholesome gain.
   
10. When subject to injustice and wronged, we should not necessarily seek the ability to refute and rebut, as doing so indicates that the mind of self-and-others has not been severed. This will certainly lead to more resentment and hatred.

Thus, we can see that life, while full of obstacles and impediments, can be summarized in ten points:

• Sickness of the body
  
• Misfortune and adversity
  
• Hindrances and impediments to cultivation
  
• Demonic obstacles to fulfillment of vows
  
• Failure in activities and undertakings
  
• Indifferent or treacherous friends
  
• Opposition from many quarters
  
• Hostility in return for good deeds
  
• Loss of wealth and reputation
  
• Subjection to injustice and wrongs.

Thus, in merit there is misfortune, in misfortune there is merit, in freedom there are obstructions, in obstructions there is freedom. Realizing this, cultivators in the past have used "obstacles as conditions for progress." They have said, "If others do not bother and disturb us, success in the Way is difficult to achieve." This is because contempt, slander, calamity, injustice and all other obstacles are the "yardsticks to measure the practitioner's level of attainment." Remaining patient and calm in the face of such impediments, the cultivator demonstrates that he has reached a high level of practice. If it were not for these obstacles, how could his level of attainment be measured? In truth, it is not that the practitioner seeks obstacles and impediments, but that he must be ever-vigilant, for the Way is full of dangerous and unforeseen events. He should prepare himself for all eventualities so that when faced with actual obstacles, he can remain calm and unruffled. An Elder Master once said: Only those with wisdom and strong determination can apply these ten practices. As long as they meditate, are enlightened and hold steadfastly to these ten practices, even if they enter the realms of the demons, the demons cannot make them retrogress. Even though they may be in the realms of form, sound, fame, fortune, love, hate, right, wrong, prosperity, decline, success, failure ... they will still be calm and at peace. Thus, if we are deluded, all good and favorable circumstances can become conditions obstructing the Way. If we truly understand that all disease, suffering and demonic obstacles are inherently empty and false, lacking true substance, they cannot harm us in any way. The wise should apply the above ten points in the following way:

• Turn suffering and disease into good medicine
  
• Turn misfortune and calamity into liberation
  
• Turn obstacles into freedom and ease
  
• Turn demons into Dharma friends
  
• Turn trying events into peace and joy
  
• Turn bad friends into helpful associates
  
• Turn opponents into "fields of flowers"
  
• Treat ingratitude as worn-out shoes to be discarded
  
• Turn frugality into power and wealth
  
• Turn injustice and wrongs into conditions for progress along the Way.

We can see, then, that good or bad, success or failure always depends on the mind. Therefore, while beginning cultivators are very leery of obstacles, high-level masters are at times eager to face them.

---

Buddhism of Wisdom & Faith: Pure Land Principles and Practice: http://www.ymba.org/BWF/bwf92.htm#ensure

The Truth of Non-self (poem)

The self is empty of existence,
though all sentient beings claim
otherwise, even to the point of
threatening the truth talker
with imprisonment and abuse.

Yet she who talks the truth
bases her words on the Bodhi Mind
and its effect on her mind,
the sixth consciousness,
through the samadhi of truth.

Why would she who sees the truth
keep silent about Emptiness,
when it opens her eyes to
nonexistence of the self?
Only a fool agrees with the world.

This is the truth of non-self,
that the self is nonexistent.
He who denies this to be true,
is but a sentient being, lost
in this world of birth-life-death.

Craving for sensation

The one who beholds that which has become as become
Passes beyond that becoming
And is released from craving for sensation.
In that which really is, he understands becoming.
Free from longing for birth or death,
He finds the true meaning of the end of becoming.

-Itivuttaka Sutta

"The one who beholds" is the disciple sitting in insight meditation whose mind is single-mindedly focused on attaining nirvana.

"That which has become" is tathata, the state of awakening in mind and in body.

When such a person views the Buddha as awakened, sh/he transcends the single-mindedness of samadhi.

In transcending nirvana, s/he lets go of vainly grasping and loses all "craving for sensation."

Having realized true Dharma as Truth, s/he "understands becoming."

Being liberated "from longing for birth and death", such a person discovers "the true meaning of the end of becoming", nirvana.

---

Originally published: November 23, 2005 2351H
Updated: February 26, 2013 0928H

Reference:

See also: http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/sutta/khuddaka/iti/tb0/index.html#glossary

Be Mindful of Your Mind! (poem)

Be mindful of your mind in your daily practice.
With all sincerity, serenity is what you find
When breath leads to the single-mindedness
Of samadhi so pure that Nirvana is but
A heartbeat away from a walk in the Buddha Field
leading towards bliss and the non-abiding Nirvana.

The Four Worths (poem)

This world is worth not clinging to,
So this mind is empty of clinging.
Let forty-nine repetitions of Nembutsu
burn away all evil karma, and
create great karma to fruit in
the Buddha World called Sukhavati.

This life is worth keeping.
This heart beats due to body nature,
But Buddha Nature is freely shared
by 102 Buddhas, of which Amitabha
is the most compassionate and wise!
For he calls to all from the Pure Land!

This Teaching is worth learning.
All the willing need to do is listen,
Not only with the ears but with the heart!
Only then is the seed of Buddha Nature
planted in the heart of each Buddhist.
With mindful practice, it becomes Self Nature.

This universe is worth knowing,
And it all becomes evident from
years of meditation and Buddha Recitation
that this old fool is neither Enlightened
nor has he ever entered into Samadhi.
However, the refund I shall get is the Pure Land!

Meditation, Dhyana and Samadhi

Hui Neng said:

What is sitting for meditation? In our School, to sit means to gain absolute freedom and to be mentally unperturbed in all outward circumstances, be they good or otherwise.

To meditate means to realize inwardly the imperturbability of the Essence of Mind.

What are Dhyana and Samadhi? Dhyana means to be free from attachment to all outer objects, and Samadhi means to attain inner peace. If we are attached to outer objects, our inner mind will be perturbed. When we are free from attachment to all outer objects, the mind will be in peace. Our Essence of Mind is intrinsically pure, and the reason why we are perturbed is because we allow ourselves to be carried away by the circumstances we are in. He who is able to keep his mind unperturbed, irrespective of circumstances, has attained Samadhi.

To be free from attachment to all outer objects is Dhyana, and to attain inner peace is Samadhi. When we are in a position to deal with Dhyana and to keep our inner mind in Samadhi, then we are said to have attained Dhyana and Samadhi. The Bodhisattva Sila Sutra says, "Our Essence of Mind is intrinsically pure."

Let us realize this for ourselves at all times. Let us train ourselves, practice it by ourselves, and attain Buddhahood by our own effort.

Sentient Beings Are No Substitute for the Buddha

If all sentient beings are potential Buddhas, then why can't a sentient being replace the Buddha during Buddha Remembrance chanting and visualization?

Because the Buddha is usually an idealized form of Amida, recitation to Amida while visualizing Amida Buddha will help promote Buddhist Remembrance Samadhi.

However, a picture of the Buddha like the Daishi Buddha will sufice during Buuddha Remembrance practice.

Replacing the Buddha's image with that of a sentient being would introduce distraction to the recitation of Amida's name. For the purpose of visualization is to become one with the Buddha, not with a sentient being.

As well, it is a picture of a celebrity, desire could distract the practitioner from having the right mind to visualize correctly.

Therefore, substituting the image of a sentient being for Amida Buddha will hinder spiritual progress towards samadhi.

It would be like using paper cups and plate to eat dinner when you have regular dinnerware available.

For it is not respect to the Buddha nor is it respectful to sentient beings to visualize a sentient being instead of Amida Buddha, even though all sentient beings are potential Buddhas.

The World is Ephemeral (poem)

To the dreamer, the world is ephemeral,
both within and without the mind.
No one actually comprehends this truth,
except for the Awakened.

Yet who is this dreamer
that sees all yet is in all of us?
No one truly knows for certain,
except for the Awakened.

So let the dreamer sleep in peace,
lest the world dissolve into the Void.
No one certainly has tried,
except for the Awakened.

For the beauty of Awakening
from this dream is boundless joy
being at one with all,
unconditioned and free.

Reflection on Beyond the Human Condition

"The human condition is our predicament of having to live with a sense of guilt. Understanding dissolves the guilt: the origin of all human upset was our instinctive self's unjust criticism of our conscious mind's necessary efforts to find understanding." -- http://www.worldtransformation.com/Beyond/StoryOfHomo.html

Although I am Buddhist, this book Beyond the Human Condition, echoes both in Buddhism and in most religions.

The purpose of Buddhist practice is to moderate instinct so that intellect may better integrate itself with that which is moderated. Indeed, what is ego but the cause and condition of human existence. Though the mind itself is the means by which one controls the ego, that which is blown out is the consciousness of ego as permanent.

How does one control the ego? First, through breath meditation, to develop calm insight; and second, through meditation on loving-kindness, to develop compassion for others. Through meditation, ego is appeased, and made tame by mindful practice.

Eventually, as a result of meditation, one lets go of being conscious of a mind which exists after death. In its place arises the spiritual mind, which consists ego and mind as one. As well, the mind develops a compassionate aspect to complement its rational aspect that appeases the ego.

None of this accomplished by meditation alone; it has to be done by practising what one learns, in addition to meditation i.e. through work and play.

Thus, I use Buddhism to understand myself. In understanding myself comes acceptance of the human condition. It is acceptance that represents the mind's ability to live peaceably with a sense of guilt.

IMHO sharing this understanding with others is done to relieve that sense of guilt.

True Emptiness is Unknowable

...The Way belongs to neither "forms" nor to "Emptiness" — page 186, Buddhism of Wisdom & Faith

In the following article, "devotee" refers to the Pure Land Buddhist who is familiar with the Nembutsu.

True Emptiness is unknowable in the devotee's lifetime. According to the Primal Vow, it shall be possible in the Pure Land of Bliss to realize Emptiness.

Thus, the devotee's goal is to be reborn in the Pure Land. This is accomplished through the practice of Buddha Recitation by reciting the Nembutsu with sincere hope to be reborn there.

Thus the Pure Land Way requires the recitation of the Nembutsu as the means to spiritual awakening.

There are no secrets involved in the Pure Land Way, just practice through recitation and study. By practicing Buddha Remembrance by chanting the Nembutsu out of gratitude to Amida Buddha for his Primal Vow, the devotee's mind is open to careful study of the sutras and commentaries.

Thus, the Nembutsu helps to reassure the devotee about rebirth in the Pure Land.

Amida Buddha, the Pure Land, and the bodhisattvas associated with him, Mahasthamaprapta and Avalokiteshvara, are all conditions in the heartmind.

Simultaneously, they are also spiritual conditions and places. From the psychological perspective, they represent psychological states of mind.

Just as the mind exists, so too does the essence of Amida, his 48 Vows and the Pure Land through his Primal Vow.

Though the mind exists due to physical conditions (the brain and the five senses), the positive aspect of imagination helps the devotee to believe and have faith in the reality of the Nembutsu.


Commentary:

"To realize Emptiness" means "to hear the Dharma through Nembutsu practice."

Thus Nembutsu practice helps the devotee to hear the Buddha preach the Dharma in his everyday life.

"To hear the Buddha preach the Dharma" implies careful study and practice of the sutras, though this is not always necessary for devotees who have practiced the Nembutsu since childhood.

"To be reborn into the Pure Land" means "to enter the psychic state of mind known as Pure Land of Bliss".

Within the context of psychology, the Pure Land of Bliss refers to a psychic state of mind called samadhi. This state of mind is calm and serene.

Through mindful practice of the Nembutsu associated with Amida Buddha, the devotee prepares herself to enter into the Pure Land.

By reciting the Nembutsu with sincere hope to be reborn there, the devotee also metaphorically enters into the Pure Land in this lifetime.

When the devotee returns to the real world, his inner mental state is as serene as a bodhisattva.

Even though the real world may be chaotic, he is able to remain calm because of his Nembutsu practice.


Reference:

"First, Buddha Sakyamuni taught that we should not follow sounds, forms and marks in seeking the Way. After that, he reminded us that at the same time, we should not abandon sounds, forms and marks, nor should we destroy all dharmas. Thus, we can see that the Way belongs neither to "forms" nor to "emptiness." Clinging to either aspect is misguided." -- Buddhism of Wisdom & Faith: Pure Land Principles and Practice, 47 Buddha Recitation -- Essence and Practice
http://www.ymba.org/BWF/bwf72.htm#recite

"Forms" refers to rupa: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R%C5%ABpa#Buddhism
Rupa is "the Buddhist concept of material form, including both the body and external matter".

"Emptiness" refers to sunyata: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C5%9A%C5%ABnyat%C4%81
As seen through Eastern eyes, Sunyata is emptiness. Only everyday life (the realm of samsara) is viewed as emptiness in the negative sense. The Buddha and nirvana are seen as "real, eternal and filled with inconceivable, enduring virtues".

Emptiness from both the Western and Eastern perspective: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emptiness
In the West, emptiness is derived from the negative condition of being empty. In the East, emptiness is refers to the "emptiness of inherent existence".

Pure Land Buddhism: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pure_Land_Buddhism
Pure Land Buddhism is a faith-oriented form of Buddhism.

A Theory of Nembutsu: http://amidatrust.typepad.com/eschatolog/2005/04/a_theory_of_nem.html

Pure Land of Bliss: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sukhavati

Samadhi as mental concentration: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samadhi_%28Buddhism%29

Bodhisattva: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodhisattva

Mahasthamaprapta: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahasthamaprapta
Avalokiteshvara: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avalokitesvara

In Chinese Buddhism, both these bodhisattvas were transformed into
the Buddhist deva of compassion and mercy, Guan Yin.

Guan Yin: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guan_Yin

Primal Vow: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primal_vow

Sutras and commentaries:
Pure Land Scriptures: http://buddhistfaith.tripod.com/purelandscriptures/
Shinran's commentary:
Kyogyoshinsho: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyogyoshinsho

Yuien-bo's Tannisho: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tannish%C5%8D

True Dharma, Buddha Nature, True Mind, Self Nature

For a person of unsteady mind,
Not knowing true Dhamma,
Serenity
Set adrift:
Discernment doesn't grow full.

For a person of unsoddened mind,
Unassaulted awareness,
Abandoning merit & evil,
Wakeful,
There is no danger
No fear.

-Dhammapada, 3, translation by Thanissaro Bhikku.

Commentary: this quote is from verses 38 and 39 in Chapter 3 of the Dhammapada.

Chapter 3 is entitled The Mind, and gives the disciple instructions about the mind.

The footnote for verse 39 reveals that a soddened mind is soaked by the rain of passion.

For, just as our clothes are soaked in the rain, so too is the mind by passion.

Of course, a light rainfall will barely soak me; but a rainstorm would drench me.

Likewise, a storm of passion would harm me greatly, disturbing my mind, leaving me distracted, lost, confused, motivated by fear and prone to anger.

Thus, passion itself is harmless in moderation. Too much of it or too little of it will lead to
psychic illness.

As well, "true Dharma" is subtly realized as Buddha Nature where the realm of truth, being that of phenomenon and noumenon, is also known as Dharmakaya.

When the disciple always views Self Nature as Buddha Nature, the True Mind is bathed in the realization of the true Dharma path, the Middle Way.

---

Reference:

Footnote to Dhammapada Verse 39: http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/sutta/khuddaka/dhp/tb0/index.html#n39

The Divine Ocean of Love

"Maha Samadhi is the final conscious abandoning of the physical body. Every infinitesimal piece of attachment or karma is completely surrendered unto God and dissolved into the Divine Ocean of Love. The individual transcends to worlds beyond karma and returns to God to merge into God. = Nirvana"

Samadhi comes from many years of meditative contemplation and practice.

Yet the Nembutsu practice helps prepare one for a meditative state of mind, when one mindfully contemplates the meaning of Amida's 48 vows and His Pure Land of Bliss.

Links: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amitabha%27s_forty-eight_vows

Look at this world all decked out

See it as a bubble,
See it as a mirage;
One who regards the world this way
the King of Death doesn't see.

Come, look at this world
all decked out
like a royal chariot,
where fools plunge in,
while those who know
don't cling.

-Dhammapada 13, translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.

See also http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/sutta/khuddaka/dhp/tb0/index.html#n170

In Chapter 13 of the Dhammapada, the message is clear:

The wise do not cling to the world -- they know much better than to be distracted by what it has to offer.

However, the underlying message is still to go out and participate in the world.

For the disciple may grow attached to thinking by being apart from it, one is unblemished by it. This is a subtle form of clinging to the world.

And the remedy for that is to cultivate happiness and joy.